P4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition
P4C800-E Deluxe
2GB of RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro All-In-Wonder
2, Samsung 160GB HDD's
DVD+/-R/W
DVD-ROM
Antec 380 Watt PSU (The S one, that comes with the Sonata)

With the above components, which case would you recommend for cool and quiet operation?

You're really going to spend $1000 for a CPU?

What are you going to be using that system for?

You just need a case with very good ventilation. No reason an Antec SLK3700AMB/BQE, or Evercase 4252 wouldn't work just fine with that hardware.

The thing is, you're going to be limited as to how quiet you can run a CPU fan. You're looking at dissapating 102W as opposed to "only" 82W with a 3.0/3.2 P4. I can cool my 3.0 with a 8V 92mm L1A on an SLK900 or a Zalman 7000 at 7V but you'd certainly need more than that. I'd suggest getting an SP94 so you're starting with the most efficient heatsink you can. Remember, that P4C800 will be showing you CPU temps about 8-10°C too low.

You're already getting the Antec, so why not this one?

http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details_en ... dID=15138#

I wouldn't get a Sonata because it doesn't have near the airflow of the two that I suggested. With that 3.4EE putting out 102W he needs as much airflow as he can get.

Agreed Ralf. Is the Super LANBOY quite nice for that? I already have one in a spare system.

SETI@Home

Argh! No! C'mon, guys, come tell JohnMK how big a folding farm for folding @ home he can set up for $1K

Just kidding, of course.

You should be looking for bang for the buck if you want good seti@home results. Couple xp2500+ overclocked with just a little memory and motherboard, no HDD or anything, a PSU and some case, you could build many of these for the price of that Pentium. And they will be faster for running seti or folding or anything, because you get many of them for the same price.

You should read about Douglas Bailey's similar rig.

Yes, it has excellent airflow but it's fan grill/bezel design is too wide open allowing extra noise to escape from inside the case, plus the aluminum has that "tinny aluminum" resonance to it.